Tolland, Simsbury Girls Take Invite Titles

SIMSBURY — — Dhahran Velasquez finished the 4x800-meter relay at the Greater Hartford Invitational early Saturday, and his mind automatically turned to the past.The Capital Prep senior has only a few races left in his decorated high school track career and has begun counting down the moments, along with his relay teammates, Joe Dobson, Devin Nelson and Kevin Rivara,

"It is kind of bittersweet," Velasquez said.

About five hours later, Capital Prep freshman Zaidra James had the opposite reaction after her second victory, an impressive win in the 200 meters. She couldn't help but think of the future.

"This shows me I have a lot of potential," James said.

Capital Prep's present collided with its future at the invitational. But the Trailblazers, who saw James also win the 100 meters, weren't alone. Throughout a long, warm and eventually rain-soaked meet, the area's top teams, including Simsbury and Tolland, found some of their biggest stars sharing the limelight with their youngest.

Led by a group of standout seniors and some talented underclassmen, the Trojans defeated Glastonbury to win the girls large school title, and Tolland defeated Bloomfield to take the small school title.

"I think we're able to perform that way because the girls are very very close and they all pull for each other all the time," Simsbury coach Rick Collins said.

Staples of Westport won the boys large school title, and Canton brought home the small school title. Canton's Keith Wilson took second in the 110 hurdles (15.57) and third in the 300 hurdles (41.22).

"I think it is good that we know we're progressing," Canton coach Tim O'Donnell said. "A lot of kids made a step forward, which you expect in a big meet like this in the midseason."

Tolland rode the success of its 4x800 and 4x400 relays to victory.

In one of the day's first races and arguably one of its most impressive, Tolland's 4x800 team of Jenna Olander, Julia Sprout, Katherine DeLoreto and Kelsey Swanson ran a meet record of 9:18.49 to beat New Milford by 12 seconds. The time beat a four-year-old record of 9:28.80 set by Simsbury in 2010. Nearly seven and a half hours later, the Eagles' 4x400 team of Olander, Swanson, Karissa Laramie and Kat DeLoreto ran 4:06.93 to win the day's final event over Glastonbury (4:09.16).

"We all practice together and push each other hard, so it's just basically all our effort [coming together]," said Swanson, a junior. "We just wanted to see where we were at. We knew we could push each other hard."

Simsbury was also led by big victories in the high jump (5 feet) and 300 hurdles (47.23) by junior Stefanie Muller, and later the 3,200 meters by Sarah Mattison (10:55.90). But that wasn't the whole story. The Trojans got major contributions from Maggie Grigley and Victoria Milledge that didn't end in victories but played significant roles.

James, the meet's star freshman, won the 100 meters with a time of 12.66 and the 200 in 26.4. The Capital Prep boys won the 4x800 relay by 15 seconds with a time of 8:10.17.

Early Throw Wins

After throwing in the first flight of the shot put so he could compete in the javelin, Bristol Eastern's Ken Smith returned to the shot put circle to find that his throw of 49- 6 1/4 was still the best of the day.

So after finding a comfortable spot in the crowd, Smith sat and watched as his opponents, including Bloomfield's Paul May and Farmington's Dan Hardiman, took aim at his mark.

"I was kind of nervous going into [May's last throws]," Smith said. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting to do that well. I was going to be happy if it was top four, top five."

May threw 48-9 1/2 for second and Hardiman was third at 45-8 1/4.

Smith also was third in the javelin. Wethersfield's Whit Devaux took first in the javelin with a throw of 170-9.

"I knew that I had a placing throw [from earlier], so I really let it all go, it felt smooth," Devaux said of his winning throw. "Getting a gold medal today was another boost in my confidence."

Hardiman won the discus at 149-11.

Bendzinski, Chisholm Set PRs

It was another strong day for RHAM senior Chrissy Bendzinski and Farmington senior Matt Chisholm, who combined for three victories at the meet. Bendzinski set personal records in the 1,600 (4:56.95) and 800 (2:14.91), and Chisholm set a PR in the 800 (1:54.63). ... Hartford Public's Teyana White long-jumped 17-4 to beat Tolland's Jenny Jacobs (17-0 3/4) and Bacon Academy's Sierra Cameron (16-4). Last week, Whyte was competing against Tolland in a dual meet and noticed a Tolland jumper correct her form. Whyte said she tried to emulate that correction and it worked well. ... Hall's Grant O'Connor won the 1,600 with a time of 4:24.21, and Farmington's Devon Michaelis won the javelin and broke the meet record with a throw of 122-9. Simsbury pole vaulters Daniel Gerardi and Justin Farrell went 1-2.